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Detainee 002

The Case of David Hicks

Leigh Sales

In a remote American military base at Guantanamo Bay, 385 enemy combatants sit waiting for their day in court. Among them is David Hicks, who was detained for five years until the March 2007 hearing where he pleaded guilty to the charge of providing material support for terrorism.Detainee 002 reveals in unprecedented detail how an Australian citizen wound up in the War on Terror. Based on more than five years of reporting and dozens of interviews with insiders, Leigh Sales explains the intricacies of Hicks's case, from his capture in Afghanistan, to life in Guantanamo Bay, to the behind-the-scene establishment and workings of the military commissions. Sales' impeccable research takes us from top-secret negotiations at the White House and Pentagon to the domestic fallout Hicks's incarceration has had on his family, to the campaign that Major Michael Mori, the marine who becomes his greatest advocate, waged on his behalf.David…

In a remote American military base at Guantanamo Bay, 385 enemy combatants sit waiting for their day in court. Among them is David Hicks, who was detained for five years until the March 2007 hearing where he pleaded guilty to the charge of providing material support for terrorism.Detainee 002 reveals in unprecedented detail how an Australian citizen wound up in the War on Terror. Based on more than five years of reporting and dozens of interviews with insiders, Leigh Sales explains the intricacies of Hicks's case, from his capture in Afghanistan, to life in Guantanamo Bay, to the behind-the-scene establishment and workings of the military commissions. Sales' impeccable research takes us from top-secret negotiations at the White House and Pentagon to the domestic fallout Hicks's incarceration has had on his family, to the campaign that Major Michael Mori, the marine who becomes his greatest advocate, waged on his behalf.David Hicks's case is emblematic of some of the greatest challenges facing the world today: the rise of Islamic extremism, terrorism and the accountability of governments towards their citizens. It is a chilling reminder that, in a war with ever-changing rules and no end in sight, there are no limits.

About the author

Leigh Sales is a Walkley Award winning journalist who anchors ABC TV's Four Corners program on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights. She has held senior positions at the network including National Security Correspondent and Washington Correspondent, and previously anchored Lateline. Her first book, Detainee 002: the Case of David Hicks, won the 2007 George Munster Award for Independent Journalism and was shortlisted for the 2008 Victorian Premier's Literary Prize.

Reviews

"This is the story that Canberra didn't want us to know-it is scrupulously fair and a brilliant yarn."

Ray Martin

"...it is around the unlikely and unprepossessing character of David Hicks that Sales canvasses some of the important issues of our time. What is a terrorist? How should these people rounded up in a 'war on terror' be detained and tried? To what extent should the normal decencies be suspended for the 'worst of the worst'?"

Richard Ackland — Sydney Morning Herald

"David Hicks needed a book like this, and so do we because the war on terror is making victims of us all."

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